Aminoglycosides are an important group of antibiotics of which the commercial members are prepared by fermentation methods. Many aminoglycosides have as part of their structure the pseudodisaccharide neamine which has the following structure: ##SPC1##
The systematic name is 2-deoxy-4-O-(2,6-diamino-2,6-dideoxy-.alpha.-D-glucopyranosyl)-D-streptami ne. Compounds in which the neamine structure has been modified are known in nature. These modifications are limited to absence of the 3'-hydroxy, the 4'-hydroxy or both the 3'- and 4'-hydroxy groups. Tobramycin, 4'-deoxybutrisin A and B, and gentamicin are examples of aminoglycosides containing these modified neamines. Antibiotics containing neamines with substituents other than hydrogen or hydroxy at the 3' or 4' positions have not been reported either from fermentation or chemical modification methods.